![COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Jonge angklungspelers West-Java TMnr 10017867](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Jonge_angklungspelers_West-Java_TMnr_10017867.jpg)
Sundanese Music (
Sundanese
Sundanese may refer to:
* Sundanese people
* Sundanese language
* Sundanese script
Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
: ) is an umbrella term that encompasses diverse musical traditions of the
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
and
Banten
Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...
in western part of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. The term of "West Java" is preferred by scholars in this field. The word "Sundanese" originally referred to western part of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
Island and has a strong association with the highly centralized
Sunda Sunda may refer to:
Europe
* Sunda, Faroe Islands
India
* Sunda (asura), an asura brother of Upasunda
* Sunda (clan), a clan (gotra) of Jats in Haryana and Rajasthan, India
Southeast Asia
* Sundanese (disambiguation)
** Sundanese people ...
Kingdom based on Java Island and its high culture practiced by the
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...
class in its capital
Parahyangan
Parahyangan ( su, ᮕᮛᮠᮡᮀᮠᮔ᮪; Bantenese: Priangan; Dutch: Preanger) is a cultural and mountainous region in West Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. Covering a little less than one sixth of Java, it is the heartla ...
. By contrast, scholars who cover a much broader region lay emphasis on folk culture.
The people of
Sundanese
Sundanese may refer to:
* Sundanese people
* Sundanese language
* Sundanese script
Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
, who inhabit the Westernmost third of the island of Java, are sometimes wrongly referred to by foreigners as Javanese. Sundanese culture, language and music are quite distinct from those of the
Javanese people
The Javanese ( id, Orang Jawa; jv, ꦮꦺꦴꦁꦗꦮ, ''Wong Jawa'' ; , ''Tiyang Jawi'' ) are an ethnic group native to the central and eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, Javanese people ...
of Central and East Java - although of course there are also elements in common. In Sunda there is a bewildering diversity of musical
genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
,
musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...
and
tuning systems are recognizably different.
Traditional instruments
In Sundanese music the term
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
or
musical sound produced in various ways is called ''Waditra''.
In Sundanese music, there are several ''Waditra'', namely Waditra Tiup (inflatable), ''Waditra Takol'' (beat), Waditra Tepak (tap), ''Waditra Keset'' (mat) and ''Waditra Geter'' (vibrate).
Aerophones
*
Suling
The suling or seruling (Sundanese: ) is a musical instrument of the Sundanese people in western Java, Indonesia. It is used in the Degung ensemble. Bamboo ring flute can also be found in Southeast Asian, especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Mala ...
, are made mainly of "''tamiang''"
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
(''Schizostachyum blumei'', Nees), a long, thin-walled bamboo tube. The mouthpiece of the suling is circled with a thin band made of rattan near a small hole.
*
Toleat, similar to a ''Suling'', but the sound produced is similar to a
Saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
and differs from blowing techniques.
*
Tarompét, a kind of
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
sound, a typical variant of Sundanese music, which is made of wood and has seven sound holes.
*
Goong Awi
''Princess Hours'' (; lit. ''Palace'') is a 2006 South Korean television series, starring Yoon Eun-hye, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Jeong-hoon and Song Ji-hyo. It is based on Korean manhwa ''Goong'' by Park So-hee. It aired on MBC from January 11 to Marc ...
, a narrow open tube of
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
about 4 cm in diameter and 110 cm long is placed inside a larger bamboo tube about 15 cm in diameter and of similar length, closed by a natural node at the lower end.
Idiophones
*
Angklung
The (Sundanese: ) is a musical instrument from the Sundanese people in Indonesia made of a varying number of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves, similar t ...
, instrument consisting of two to four bamboo tubes suspended in a bamboo frame, bound with rattan cords. The tubes are carefully whittled and cut by a master craftsperson to produce certain notes when the bamboo frame is shaken or tapped. Each Angklung produces a single note or chord, so several players must collaborate in order to play melodies. On November 18, 2010,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
officially recognized the Indonesian ''angklung'' as a
Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...
.
![Single note angklung ('G'), 2015-05-21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Single_note_angklung_%28%27G%27%29%2C_2015-05-21.jpg)
*
Gamelan Sunda, a multi-timbre ensemble consisting of
metallophones
A metallophone is any musical instrument in which the sound-producing body is a piece of metal (other than a metal string), consisting of tuned metal bars, tubes, rods, bowls, or plates. Most frequently the metal body is struck to produce sound, ...
,
xylophones
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...
,
flutes
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
gongs
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
,
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
s, as well as bowed and plucked
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
.
![Asian Civilisations Museum, Empress Place 19, Aug 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Asian_Civilisations_Museum%2C_Empress_Place_19%2C_Aug_06.JPG)
*
Calung
The ''calung'' ( su, ) is a type of Indonesian bamboo xylophone originating from Baduy culture and commonly used in Baduy, Bantenese, Sundanese, Banyumasan, and Balinese performances. The calung (instrument) consists of multiple bamboo ...
, consists of multiple bamboo tubes which are struck at the base to produce a woody sound.
*
Karinding
The Karinding is Sundanese traditional musical instrument from West Java, Indonesia. It is similar to the Jew's harp and are usually made from bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subf ...
, a ''musical'' instrument made of a tube of bambu about one foot long and one inch in bore, at the end of which is held a small instrument with a tongue to it . This instrument is struck by the finger and blown upon, when a sound like a
Jew's harp.
Membranophones
*
Kendang
Kendang or Gendang ( jv, ꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦁ, translit=Kendhang, su, ᮊᮨᮔ᮪ᮓᮀ, translit=Kendang, ban, ᬓᬾᬦ᭄ᬤᬂ, translit=Kendang, Tausug/Bajau Maranao: ''Gandang'', Bugis: ''Gendrang'' and Makassar: ''Gandrang'' or ''Ganra ...
, instruments are to be made from the wood of
jackfruit
The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...
,
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
s or
cempedak
''Artocarpus integer'', commonly known as chempedak or cempedak, is a species of tree in the family Moraceae in the same genus as breadfruit and jackfruit. It is native to Southeast Asia. Cempedak is an important crop in Malaysia and is also popu ...
.
Buffalo hide is often used for the ''bam'' (''inferior surface which emits low-pitch beats'') while soft goatskin is used for the ''chang'' (''superior surface which emits high-pitch beats'').
*
Dogdog, a wooden musical instrument in the shape of a cylinder, the center is made of a hole, with one side covered with a
Goat Skin membrane, which consists of 4 sets of instruments with different beats.
*
Dogdog Lojor, a wooden musical instrument is in the form of an elongated cylinder. The center is made of a hollow, with one side covered with a membrane of
Goatskin. This goat skin is stretched by being tied with a rope made of bamboo skin. The degree of stretching of the goat skin determines the sound produced.
*
Celempung
The siter and celempung are plucked string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. They are related to the ''kacapi'' used in Sundanese gamelan.
The siter and celempung each have between 11 and 13 pairs of strings, strung on each side, between a ...
, a musical instrument made of sharp cut
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
, which utilizes the resonant waves present in the segment of the bamboo culm.
Chordophones
*
Kacapi
The kacapi ( su, ᮊᮎᮕᮤ) is a traditional zither of Sundanese people in Indonesia. This musical instrument is similiar to Chinese , Japanese ''koto'', the Mongolian , the Korean , the Vietnamese and the Kazakh jetigen
The jetigen ( kk ...
, the instrument has a resonance box with the bottom exposed to allow the sound to come out, the sides of this type of kacapi taper inward from top to bottom, which gives the instrument the shape of a boat. In ancient times, it was made directly from solid wood by means of a hole. This is on par with
Guzheng
The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from ''Paulownia'' wood. Other co ...
.
*
Jentreng, a kind of lute instrument with seven strings. The size is much smaller when compared to kacapi in general. Made from flower wood (ylang) or jackfruit wood.
*
Tarawangsa
Tarawangsa is a traditional Sundanese people, Sundanese musical instrument from West Java, Indonesia, in the form of a stringed instrument that has two strings made of steel or iron wire. Tarawangsa is an ensemble of chordophones (stringed instru ...
, stringed instruments have a resonator made of wood with a long neck with the number of strings between 2 to 3 strands.
Sundanese tone notation
Sundanese Daminatila
It's a kind of numbered musical notation like the
solfège
In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...
, but it uses a different system: high numbers correspond to low tones, and vice versa. This system might seem to be counterintuitive to people who are already familiar with the western solfège. There are only 5 notes used in each scales: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, read as ''da, mi, na, ti'', and ''la''. The absolute tones depend on the scale used and the base frequency, which don't adhere to western standards. Traditional angklung have some common scales:
saléndro,
degung
''Gamelan degung'' is a form of Sundanese musical ensemble that uses a subset of modified gamelan instruments with a particular mode of ''degung'' scale. The instruments are manufactured under local conditions in towns in West Java such as Bogo ...
/
pélog
Pelog ( su, ᮕᮦᮜᮧᮌ᮪, translit=Pélog /pelog/, jv, ꦥꦺꦭꦺꦴꦒ꧀, ban, ᬧᬾᬮᭀᬕ᭄, translit=Pélog /pelok/) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that has heptatonic scale. The other, ...
, and
sorog/
madenda.
Diatonic
Diatonic notation for angklung use a
numbered musical notation
The numbered musical notation (, not to be confused with the integer notation) is a cipher notation system used in China, and to some extent in Japan (with 7th being si,), Indonesia (in a slightly different format called "not angka"), Malaysia, Au ...
in Indonesia, similar notation like
Jianpu
The numbered musical notation (, not to be confused with the integer notation) is a cipher notation system used in China, and to some extent in Japan (with 7th being si,), Indonesia (in a slightly different format called "not angka"), Malaysia, Au ...
, but with some different standards, like the placement of rhythm lines positions and chord notations. The musical notation is written based on
movable do. The musical notation displays 1 as relative do, 2 as relative re, etc. Higher octave marked with a dot above, and lower octave marked with a dot below.
Also, some alternatives notations is writing the exact written numbers on the single angklung to the musical sheet, usually marked 0-31, 0 is the lowest tone and 31 is the highest tone.
Some angklung types contains more than one notes usually marked with English chord notation, like C, Dm, Em, F, G, G7, Am, etc. This type of angklung is used for accompanying a musical piece.
Contemporary music
Pop Sunda
Pop Sunda or Sundanese Pop is Indonesian pop music which is a blend of traditional
Sundanese
Sundanese may refer to:
* Sundanese people
* Sundanese language
* Sundanese script
Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
music with contemporary western pop music.
See also
*
Music of Indonesia
As it is a country with many different tribes and ethnic groups, the music of Indonesia ( id, Musik Indonesia) itself is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region have its own culture and art, and as a r ...
*
Music of Java
The Music of Java embraces a wide variety of styles, both traditional and contemporary, reflecting the diversity of the island and its lengthy history. Apart from traditional forms that maintain connections to musical styles many centuries old, ...
*
Sundanese people
The Sunda or Sundanese ( id, Orang Sunda; su, ᮅᮛᮀ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ, Urang Sunda) are an indigenous ethnic group native to the western region of Java island in Indonesia, primarily West Java. They number approximately 42 million and form ...
References
{{reflist, 1
External links
Sundanese Christian music compilation
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
Sundanese culture
Sundanese music